


It's Always Been Ziva

by anotherthief



Category: NCIS
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-02
Updated: 2015-02-02
Packaged: 2018-03-10 03:45:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3275459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anotherthief/pseuds/anotherthief
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>McGee, Tony, a couple of beers and a conversation about Ziva.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It's Always Been Ziva

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted 12/13/11 on my LiveJournal.
> 
> For Jess.

“You know Gibbs is going to kill you.”  
  
“When is Gibbs  _not_  going to kill me?”  
  
At this McGee paused with his beer halfway to his mouth to give him that look.  
  
“Yeah, yeah, I know.” Tony sighed and took a swig of his own beer. This wasn’t your average offense. He wouldn’t have asked McGee for a drink tonight for just any broken rule.  
  
Sitting back in the booth, he surveyed the room. It was an old habit that had originally started in high school on the lookout for girls. Over the years it had morphed into exit points and potential threats. He drummed his fingers lightly on the table, turning his attention back to McGee. They were in no danger tonight, and this conversation, much to his dismay, couldn’t be avoided forever.  
  
“Do you think it’s wrong?” He threw the question out there on an exhale. It wasn’t the question he’d meant to ask, but it was an honest one.  
  
McGee cocked his head to the side, and gave him that x-raying look he did when the screens in Abby’s lab gave an unexpected result. “Would my answer change anything?”  
  
He scratched the back of his head, feeling the blow of an imaginary head-slap, so many years of broken rules and reminders. Tony shrugged. “No, but I’m asking anyways and don’t make me ask again.”  
  
One of the corners of McGee’s mouth turned up, but the contemplative look in his eye remained. “I think it’s complicated… and not for me to decide. But, I’ve got no room to throw stones either.”  
  
“Ah yes, that is true McLovin’.” He winced. “It slipped.”  
  
McGee sighed, exasperatedly and motioned to the waitress for the next round. Tony took the last swig of his beer and smiled gratefully when their waitress reappeared in seconds with two beers in hand. She disappeared and Tony watched her back recede absentmindedly. She slipped back behind the counter to tend to her other customers and the beer in his hand was something to do. The liquid slid down cool. He turned back to McGee – whose face was seriously going to get stuck like that at some point – and noticed a smirk bubbling to the surface.  
  
“What?” Tony asked, throwing his hands up.  
  
“Nothing – ”  
  
“Oh well that clears everything up.” Tony interjected, again leaning back in the booth, and growing tired of that look on McGee’s face, like he had something on Tony.  
  
“ _Nothing_ , but I just realized that our waitress can’t be more than 24 and you haven’t tried to get her number once in the two hours we’ve been sitting here.” He finished with a full-out smirk, and Tony fought the impulse to roll his eyes at how proud McGee was of himself.  
  
“It’s different.” He said it but didn’t meet McGee’s eyes, lowering his gaze he attempted to focus on the label of his bottle, suddenly feeling a hell of a lot more exposed than he wanted to let on. It was different, and he wasn’t that same guy from five years ago either.  
  
“It’s Ziva. She could torture you in ways we couldn’t come up with in our worst nightmares.”  
  
McGee said it so matter-of-factly and when Tony looked up the smug look on his face was just asking for a head-slap to wipe it off. The table, however, prevented that. “Yes, it’s Ziva, but -” he paused, losing his cool wasn’t going to get him anywhere. This was too important for that, getting McGee on his side was step one. “It’s more than that.” He said it and spoke the words with much more sincerity than he really wanted to give McGee.   
  
“What then?”  
  
Tony could hear the curiosity mixed in with the low level of hostility in McGee’s voice. Part of him liked seeing the protective side of his probie. The other part was insulted at all the unspoken insinuations. He knew it would mean letting the façade fully fade away, but he needed McGee to know he wasn’t risking a slow painful death at Gibbs’ hand for a hit and run relationship. “It’s always been Ziva.”  
  
McGee’s expression returned to the thoughtful x-raying look from earlier. “Yeah?”  
  
Tony shrugged and could feel the corners of his mouth turn up of their own accord, and the smile that was spreading gave him away long before his reply.

 

- 

 

Crawling into bed that night Tony smiled as Ziva rolled over to nestle into his side. “Hi,” he whispered, and leaned to press a kiss onto her forehead.  
  
“What’d McGee say?” she mumbled groggily.  
  
He could tell she was already halfway back asleep by the end of the sentence and had to suppress a laugh. His crazy Israeli ninja chick was already down for the count at 11:30. “We’ll talk about it in the morning.”  
  
“That bad?” she asked, yawning.  
  
“Nahh.” He paused replaying the night in his head, from cornering McGee after work to him wishing them luck as they left the bar. “I don’t think so.”  
  
“Good.  _Layla tov_.”  
  
The corners of Tony’s eyes crinkled as he swallowed another laugh, glad he could recognize that as “good night.” Stifling a yawn, he didn’t realize how tired he was until just now, but there was one more thing before he let them both drift off for good.  
  
“Hey.” He said and caressed her cheek with the hand she wasn’t laying on. She squinted at him, possibly calculating the most efficient manner of shutting him up. He just smiled. “I love you.”  
  
Tony could see her eyes rolled under her eyelids but the small smile on her lips cut the insult. “Sap. Love you too. Sleep.”  
  
His own tired eyes were shutting of their own accord, but he pressed one more kiss into her hair before falling in behind her.


End file.
